


The Messenger Shoots Back

by mynameisntburgerpants



Series: The mynameisntburgerpants Anthology [3]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Adult Chara (Undertale), Alternate Timelines, Chara is alive, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Multiverse, Undertale Monsters on the Surface, fanon sans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-14
Updated: 2019-07-14
Packaged: 2020-06-27 23:53:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19800391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mynameisntburgerpants/pseuds/mynameisntburgerpants
Summary: Chara pisses an alternate Sans off by existing, I guess.





	The Messenger Shoots Back

It wasn't much, but it was home. And work. And, to an extent, school. No matter how you looked at it, the Mt. Ebott Flower Shop was Chara "Narcissus" Dreemurr's base of operations. In the scant year or two that they'd spent living and working here, they staked a claim for themself as a staple in the Ebott City community, trying to make improvements here and there, helping keep things from falling into disarray while their father was out and about doing other things. Real world experience, practice being social with other humans, being able to share one of their interests with people who want to know more...it was hard to ask for more out of a locale.

The day wound down like any other, but towards the end of Chara's shift, as they were sweeping up fallen petals from the back of the building, they'd heard the bell on the front door ringing--a new customer. Far be it from Chara to keep a customer from waiting, but they had to at least take the time to put away their cleaning supplies before they could head up front. Almost immediately, they heard a somewhat familiar voice calling out from up front--"Hey, Asgore! Ya here? S'your wife's boyfriend." Their first reaction was almost mistakenly relief--just Sans coming around to mess with them...but the Sans that Chara knew didn't usually rub salt in the wound about Asgore's rocky love life. And the Sans that they knew would _especially_ know that Asgore was out of town for the weekend and that Chara was at the helm of the shop for the day instead.

Given Chara's activity in the Multinet chat, they weren't a stranger to multiversal shenanigans, and quickly wrapped their head around the fact that this was an alternate of their "favorite" skeleton, a separate but tangentially similar thread in the weave of spacetime; but what struck them as odd was the demeanor. The pompous attitude...and they swore they could hear a capital letter or two in there somewhere. They were sure that this was normal where he came from, but it never stopped being jarring considering the one they knew was...well, the one they knew. Last time they dealt with someone like this was back home--the _old_ home--the timeline vacationers realizing to their own dismay that Chara was still alive here, and in a misguided fear for their own safety, tried to correct that fact.

This wouldn't have bothered Chara as much as it did if it were a general resentment towards humanity--after all, their experiences with their own species wasn't so hot either. They'd still have attempts on their life but at least they'd be able to sympathize, somewhat. However, it was rather clear that it was directed at Chara in particular--some other human being held up on a pedestal and praised even in spite of Chara getting a scant few peeks at them doing the exact things that marked Chara as an unforgivable "dirty brother killer." They supposed holding somebody accountable for a completely unrelated person's crimes only made too much sense given they already had a target painted on their back for actions that their own alternates may or may not have performed.

But maybe this one would just be an annoyance and not a threat. Maybe if Chara just acted natural, sold the guy some flowers, and tried to avoid meandering away from the topic of business while doing so, this could all be over in a heartbeat. The thought of a smooth interaction with a Sans filled them with DETERMINATION.

Breathe, step out the door, and greet the customer with their usual smile. "Howdy, welcome to--" They barely got three words into their greeting before their hopes were totally dashed in the form of their SOUL pumping out of their chest and turning a royal blue. They reflexively adjusted their posture to accommodate the change in their center of balance.

"What did you do to Asgore?" The skeleton barked--he towered over Chara, a real wall of bones and magic. A faint blue glow emanated from under his plain white t-shirt, a blue flame sparking to life in his right eye as if to highlight the pupil therein. "Did you kill him too?!" His eye sockets narrowed to what could generously be interpreted as a squint.

"...If I may," Chara started, putting their hands up with open palms to show that they lacked a weapon or any harmful intent, "it sounded like you were here to antagonize him anyway. Something about his wife's boyfriend?" Their eye twitched ever so slightly. "Have you only found concern on his behalf the moment you saw the whites of my eyes?"

"Quit your bullshit," Sans snarled, rearing a hand back. "Why else wouldn't he be here? You killed him and took his equipment because it has better stats, didn't you?! I know you did!" Chara realized a little too late that they didn't implicitly deny that what he's saying was what actually happened, but then that's only really a mistake in the same vein as having to qualify everything you say with a promise that you're not two Napoleon Bonapartes in a trenchcoat. For realsies. "I can smell his blood on your hands! You..." Brushing aside that monsters don't have blood to bleed, the reach in logic just to paint Chara as guilty was, however harebrained, an implicit threat to them. They could make a case for themself all they want, but that wouldn't change his insistence on them being a...

"Dirty brother killer." The lights faded from Sans' eye sockets for a moment, his voice coming to a husky baritone. Those three words. The words that haunted Chara ever since Alphys discovered that damned link to parallel worlds. The words that scared them into becoming a shut-in in the Dreemurr palace. Ever since they found out what happened to those other timelines...they wanted to feel sad for these guys at first, and still to some extent did, even after being blamed for it time after time...but they really wished there was a healthier outlet for their grief than trying to kill someone who vaguely looked like the responsible party.

Chara made a mental map of their surroundings--they knew this flower shop like the back of their hand...but route as they might, there wasn't a way out of the building that didn't at some point potentially go through this skeleton. They kept their hands raised and remained perfectly still, hoping that maybe this would get the point across that they didn't want to cause or take part in any trouble. Chara soon realized that Sans did not share that same desire as they began to levitate a solid half foot above the ground, which prefaced their head suddenly slamming into the ceiling, followed by falling limply to the floor, face hitting the counter on their way down. The same unseen force responsible for Chara's sudden concussive experience dragged them across the floor, over the counter--knocking over the tip jar and a vase full of display flowers on their way--and dropped them at Sans' feet, At this point, Sans knelt down to lift Chara up by the collar of their sweater to look them in the eye.

"Funny," Sans snickered, "I thought you'd put up more of a fight." Chara twitched momentarily, but otherwise remained limp in the skeleton's grip. They were winded and magically weighed down, barely able to even lift an arm to reach out and grab something. They coughed up a bloody tooth that the scuffle knocked loose, which plinked uselessly off of Sans' tibia. "That's just gross, kid." Sans clicked his tongue, or lack thereof, readying a single bone-shaped bullet to aim for their SOUL. "Not even the last one of you shits tried that...but then, they were also a lot smaller. Harder target."

Chara's heart rate accelerated as they processed what he was saying. Now the last vestige of pity for this guy's situation evacuated their body like a city in the path of a hurricane. It wasn't enough that they were being scapegoated for someone else's crime, but he was fine with brutalizing literal _children?_ This was the big hero of space and time? They had to suppress the urge to slam their fist into the ground, knowing any sudden movements would probably be caught and punished if they made themself too predictable. Sans plunged the bone directly through Chara's SOUL, tearing through unit after unit of Chara's HP...any moment now, it should shatter and they should drop dead.

  


...So why weren't they?

  


Chara coughed up a splotch of blood which landed on the floor, staggering back up to their feet, fighting against the magic constantly pulling their weight down. Even as their health dropped by the instant, their capacity for health seemed to be expanding almost as fast. They almost totally ignored the damage they were actively taking; constant pain but constant adrenaline pumping and pumping to fight through it. Rearing their own hand back, Chara swung off to the side and pulled an empty shelf over to tip it onto its side, catching Sans under it by the time he was about to taunt them for missing him directly. With a crash, Sans was pinned down not unlike the way Chara was mere moments ago.

"There is a murderous fiend in this room, yes," Chara said with shaky breath, a bone still embedded in their SOUL, their health approaching dangerously low levels even in spite of their outrage-induced rising LOVE. Grabbing a flower pot off of an undisturbed shelf, they looked Sans dead in the eye. "...If you want to find them, look in a mirror." With that, Chara threw the flower pot down on Sans' immobilized skull with all of their might and righteous fury. Soon enough, the bone dissipated, as did Sans' corporeal form, leaving behind naught but a dusty jacket, basketball shorts, and ugly slippers in his wake, a singular golden flower amid scattered terracotta marking his final resting place.

It's a beautiful day outside.

Birds are singing.

Flowers are blooming.

On days like this...

People like Chara...

Deserve a fucking break.

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this in like, 8 hours and I spent about half of that time at work.


End file.
